.22 Cal Uberti 1866 Carbine

[Fingers McGee]

Was high bidder on this .22 from Gunbroker last night. Have always wanted a .22 cal 1866. Uberti but don't know what the date code is. Pay particular attention to the brass front sight and barrel band and the flip up elevator rear sight.





Anyone know of any history on these? This particular one has no saddle ring, and no lever latch; but does have a lever safety

 

[J-Bar]

Drool...

 

[forward observer]

I remember seeing these advertised either by Navy Arms or EMF in Shotgun News as early as the mid 1970's. I have some old Navy catalogs and some Shotgun News packed in a box somewhere in storage, but have no idea where to start looking.

Anyway, going from memory----At the time Uberti had only offered the 66 in .38 spl. and .44-40. I seem to remember that even 45 LC was not available at the time.

Anyway, Uberti came out with the 22 cal to try to appeal to a broader or younger audience, but unfortunately at $350 to $400 a pop they were a bit expensive for that caliber. One could buy a nice new Winchester lever action 9422 for about $125 to $150 at the time and Ruger 10/22's were all the rage.

Consequently they only offered them for a short while, and I can also remember seeing them offered in Shotgun New on close out much later, but even at a reduced price they were more than standard 22's of the day.

Because of this they are a bit rare and usually command premium price today. The only negative I have ever heard is that since the basic brass frame is the same as the larger calibers, the guns are a bit on the heavy side for a 22, but I've also heard that they are still fun to shoot.

Congrats

 

[Malamute]

I had one in the late 70's. I seriously regret selling it. It was heavy for a 22, but it shot well and was tons of fun to shoot. I was shooting 2500 rds a month through mine for a while.

Mine had blued bands/front sight. I though it looked odd without a loading gate, more like a Henry, so removed the fore end and filed the fore end bosses off the receiver.

At one time the 66's were offered in a package deal from Navy Arms. Part of the package were 22 cal 73's, a carbine and trapper. Really wish I'd kept one of them.

 

[peacemaker45]

I had one. It shot well, reasonably accurately, in slow fire. It had an unfortunate tendency to let the lead bullet bite into the rim of the chamber when you tried to speed up. Being a 66, with no lever safety, that's a great recipe for setting them off out of battery. I don't remember how many times I did that before I gave up and sold it, but it was definitely double digits.

 

[goon]

They do look cool. I remember seeing a '73 replica in .22LR advertised somewhere. I like the look of the Henry Golden Boy, but the drop in the stock is too much for me.

Still, great looking rifle and it should be loads of fun with that ladder rear sight.

 

[Fingers McGee]

Thanks all. Always looking for more info.

 

[200Apples]

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Congrats, Fingers!

We dig lever guns!